There are numerous circuits and other electronic devices that produce energy waves, such as electromagnetic waves and microwaves. These circuits produce energy waves that are delivered to a destination through different wires, guides, and other mediums. Certain exemplary circuits comprise integrated circuits such as a monolithic microwave integrated circuit (“MMIC”).
MMICs are used in various electrical systems to up convert, down convert, and/or amplify electromagnetic (“EM”) and/or radio frequency (“RF”) signals among other functions. In certain situations, the amount of EM power desired for a particular electrical system is greater than a single MMIC or other circuit can provide or withstand. In yet other situations a high power MMIC may be excessively expensive. In these situations, two or more MMICs (or other circuits) may be used in parallel to achieve a desired output.
Electrical systems that include more than one circuit have various disadvantages. This is particularly the case when the electrical system also contains numerous other components where the impedance experienced by the energy at the MMIC must closely match the impedance the energy will experience at other components (such as a waveguide) to reduce energy loss. One exemplary electrical system where this is especially problematic is a system that comprises an integrated circuit such as a MMIC transitioning to a waveguide.
Electrical systems comprising two or more MMICs connected to a waveguide typically include a power combiner to combine the power from multiple MMICs before delivering it to the waveguide. Power combiners, such as a waveguide combiner tend to be complicated, heavy, and expensive and thus they are cost prohibitive. Further, power combiners increase the size of electrical systems to the point where the system itself is too big for many applications. Other known systems use a technique known as power splitting, with similar size and cost issues.
Certain systems, devices, and methods exist that combine the power produced by multiple MMICs without the use of separate power combiners. These devices include coaxial devices and cables, amplifiers such as a Grid Amplifier® produced by the Wavestream Corporation of San Dimas, Calif., and other spatial combining devices. While effective, these devices still tend to have unacceptable amounts of energy loss and are not thermally efficient. Energy loss is particularly problematic at higher frequencies. In certain applications, even signal losses that reduce the signal small amounts, such as 1/10 of a decibel, may result in a significant performance loss. One exemplary application where loss from energy waves such as microwaves is problematic is a power amplifier.
Another problem with known power splitters/combiners and other similar systems is the physical space that these systems occupy. Most power combiners comprise several different circuits, amplifiers, waveguides, and other related devices that require known power combiners to have a large “footprint” and occupy a large amount of space. This is disadvantageous because many applications that require a power combiner have little room for large devices. This is particularly an issue when the total weight of an electrical system containing the power combiner needs to be as minimal as possible, such as is the case when the electrical system is part of a satellite or a mobile application.
Therefore, it would be advantageous to provide an electrical system that is compact and cost effective with two or more MMICs or other integrated circuits. It would also be advantageous to provide a system that combined the power from two or more integrated circuits and that had minimal signal loss when the circuit was connected to another structure such as a waveguide. It would also be advantageous to provide a system with two or more integrated circuits that was thermally efficient.